Thief
by Fang009
Summary: Dalton was your run-of-the-mill, average, everyday thief. Until he stole from the wrong horse.


A/N: I wrote this when I was bored, so don't expect it to be very good, and also, I might lose interest in writing it halfway through the story.

I

I glanced behind me as I ran through the dense trees. I heard the clanking of armor and weapons behind me, and I ran even faster. The men behind me were running at about the same speed I was, maybe a little slower, so they were about the same distance from me the whole time. About ten yards ahead of me the trees stopped abruptly. It was only after nine yards that I realized that there was a cliff.

I dug my heels into the dry earth, attempting to stop before I plunged into the canyon. When I stopped, my toes were literally dangling over the edge. Instinctively, I moved closer to the tress, but the soldiers appeared from the woods, and I was only about a foot or two away from the ledge. There were about five of them in total, each had about thirty pounds on me.

"Come now, just back away from the edge. We're not going to kill you." said one of the soldiers.

"Yeah, you'll just throw me in prison." I said sarcastically.

I drawing my sword, I moved closer to the soldiers. They backed away warily, and that's when I struck. I killed two of them before the other could react, stabbing them both quickly in the neck. The three soldiers remaining fumbled for their spears, and I had enough time to jab my sword into one of the soldiers stomach before the final two soldiers charged me.

If the soldiers had though for a moment, they would have realized that running at me wasn't a good idea, seeing as I had a cliff to my back. As I nimbly dodged them, one of them realized that and tried to stop, but ended up barely holding onto the ledge. The second soldier was not as fortunate, and he ended up falling off the edge.

I crouched down and looked at the last soldier.

"P-please! Help me! I won't try to capture you, I swear! I'll-I'll do anything!" he pleaded.

"I'm sorry. I really am." I said, as I cut off both his hands.

I smiled grimly to myself as I walked through the woods, cutting through dense areas with a swipe of my sword.

_If someone told me a two years ago that I would be killing soldiers, running from the law, I would have thought they were crazy. And it is, really, how life changes so easily, so smoothly that you don't even notice the change until it's done. And by that point nothing can be done._

As I continued through the woods, I felt something, like the feeling you get when someone is watching you, but it felt as though someone was watching my mind. I shivered at the thought, because I enjoyed the privacy of my own mind, and the thought of anyone opening it up like a book disturbed me.

_Well, after the business with Galbatorix and Eragon, you can hardly expect true privacy_, I thought to myself.

I sat down, leaning against the bark of an oak tree. I opened my bag, where I kept my prizes that I had stolen. I took out my most recent token, a strange purple stone with veins of white running through it like spiderwebs. It was about a food long, and perfectly smooth, unlike any object I had felt before. I didn't even know what it was, but it was intriguing, and that's why I take things that I take.

It was then when I heard a rustling in the bushes behind me, and a man appeared from behind the trees. He looked to be ten or so years older than me, with brown hair that was cut short. On his hip was a sword, about three and a half feet long, and by the looks of the scabbard, it was elven made.

He drew his sword, it's blood-red point resided on my chest before I had a chance to blink.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Dalton. Dalton Reames."

"Why are you so far up north, Dalton Reames?"

"No reason, I simply wanted to get away from the issues of humanity for a while."

He studied me for a moment, then said. "You're lying."

I looked at him, surprised that he could guess. No one had previously seen through my lies so immediately.

"How did you know?"

"You're mind is like an open book."

I scowled, realizing he was most likely the reason for the strange feeling earlier.

"What did you take?" he asked.

In response, I pulled out the purple stone. When he caught sight of it, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Where did you get this?" he asked, pushing the tip of his sword into my chest harder.

"I stole it! It was on a horse, and I saw it, and took it! Why? Is it important?" I asked.

"Important?!" he exclaimed, "This is a dragon egg!"

When the meaning of his words sank in I looked at the stone- or egg rather, with different eyes.

"No..." I murmured, "There's no way..."

That's when I heard the egg starting to crack.

A/N: Thanks for reading, leave a review with any constructive criticism, because I know I could use it.


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